That's according to an Apple release that reveals customers spent $10bn on iOS apps in 2013 – and over $1bn of that was spent in December alone, spread across almost 3bn apps.

Some of the App Store's biggest successes last year were games, ranging from new releases like Candy Crush Saga, Puzzles & Dragons and QuizUp to continuing best-sellers such as Minecraft and the Angry Birds series.

There are more than 1m apps available on iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch, with more than 500,000 native to the iPad.

"We'd like to thank our customers for making 2013 the best year ever for the App Store," said Apple's senior vice president of internet software and services Eddy Cue.

"The line-up of apps for the holiday season was astonishing and we look forward to seeing what developers create in 2014.